Swamy likens Sonia, Jaya, Mayawati to divinity

Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy credited the outcome of the confidence vote to "three great ladies" -- Sonia Gandhi, J Jayalalitha and Mayawati -- describing them as Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga.

Expressing happiness at the result, Dr Swamy said, "Our efforts now will be directed towards building a strong and secular coalition government at the Centre. Our first objective will be to build a strong India."

In a reference to the one vote that tilted the scales in the Lok Sabha, he said in a lighter vein, "Just see. Very soon this margin will swell to a hundred."

Swamy added that though credit goes to the Opposition MPs also, the main architect of the government's defeat was Jayalalitha, who risked her entire political career by withdrawing support to the A B Vajpayee-led coalition.

In response to a question, he said the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government in Tamil Nadu would collapse "due to its own nervousness".